There have been several posts on the net lately of recipes for Bacon Jam as people try to replicate what was apparently the original product made by Skillet Street Foods. Being a Think Geek follower, I looked at them all, worked out the common factors (bacon coffee, sugar, spice) and then tried my own version. I think it has come out really well. Try it yourself:

Bacon Jam

Ingredients:

1Kg Bacon (Apparently, the smokier the better for the bacon. I could not be sure my bacon was all that well smoked, but I knew the smoked turkey breasts at Woolworths were really smoky flavoured, so I substituted two rashers of bacon with two outer slices of a smoked turkey breast. I guess that technically makes this Turkey and Bacon Jam).

1 large onion. And it was a large one. Chopped up it easily made 3+ cups of onion bits.

3 cloves of Garlic – This was Mexican garlic, and very nice too. Three cloves was actually an entire corm, or bulb, or whatever… LOTS of garlic.

1 cup of triple strength coffee (three spoons of Moccona in a cup of boiling water}

1/3 cup cider vinegar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

1/4 cup honey

1/2 teaspoon mustard

1/2 teaspoon paprika

A dash of bitters

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

1/2 cup red wine

Method

Chop up the bacon (and smoked turkey breast) and in the sautee pan, fry until it is partly crisp

Drain off about half the fat (reserve for next recipe)

Add onion and fry until it is softening and beginning to brown

add the cider and the coffee and simmer until the liquid has reduced 50 percent

Transfer to a saucepan.

Add the remaining ingredients, bring back to the simmer, turn down as low as it can go, and simmer for two hours or so, stirring frequently and keeping a good eye on it towards two hours so that it does not burn. When it is sticky and thick, and parts in the pan, let it cool a bit, drop into the food processor and pulse a few times so that it is consistent but not finely pulverised.

Back into the pan to simmer again before bottling into hot jars.

This makes about a litre of product.

Damn. Here is a thought. Before you start make sure you have enough jars to put it in, especially if you are making onion marmalade at the same time , as I was.